The Opposition has today accused Ministers of behaving like "provincial dictators". The charge came during a Dáil debate on the appointment of a new chairman of the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
Speaking in the Dáil, Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan congratulated Dermot Gallagher, the former secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, on his appointment, noting he was "a man with an outstanding record as a diplomat and public servant in this country".
However, Mr Flanagan said the appointment "represents both a triumph and a failure" by the Government. "Securing an appointee of Mr Gallagher's stature is a very positive achievement; however, the process with which this appointment is taking place is wholly unsatisfactory.
"Over the years Fianna Fáil has earned a well-deserved reputation for cronyism. Friends of the party were appointed to all manner of State boards, Prison Visiting Committees, Film Classification panels etc with no regard for their qualifications or aptitude in the relevant area.
"Ministers behaved like provincial dictators dispensing patronage. The majority of modern democracies have moved on from such medieval practices but cronyism is alive and well in Ireland under Fianna Fáil," he said.
The Fine Gael TD said it was his party's policy that "the practice of placing persons on State Boards whose sole qualification is political allegiance will end", adding the suitability of appointments must be vetted by the appropriate Oireachtas committee.
"By appointing Dermot Gallagher and then asking this House to rubber-stamp the decision, Fianna Fáil has lumped in a distinguished civil servant with the rest of its cronies. It has prompted civil rights agencies to question the absence of an open and transparent recruitment process. This is a shame."
"Dermot Gallagher should have been given the opportunity to come before an Oireachtas Committee to answer questions about his suitability for this post, a task that all Government appointees to State agencies and boards should be subject to."
Pat Rabbitte, Labour Party spokesman on Justice Equality and Law Reform, said the most controversial case facing the new chairman was the case of Kieran Boylan, his relations with members of the Garda Síochána and the related question of why a nolle prosequi was entered by the DPP over charges of possession of €1.7 million worth of cocaine and heroin
"Incredibly, the charges related to this seizure were struck out and only re-entered after members of this House raised the issue," Mr Rabbitte said. "The only reasonable inference is that Boylan was saved from prison by the intervention of corrupt gardaí or he was protected because he is a Garda informant."
"The findings of the GSOC in this case will be a benchmark against which that body will be judged by law abiding citizens for the future," Mr Rabbitte said.
Responding, the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, said it was "ironic" the Opposition was criticising the appointments process as Mr Gallagher's nomination had come before the Oireachtas, representing the people of the State, and was being debated in the Dáil.
He also rejected criticism of the appointment process from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Earlier this month, Council director Mark Kelly said the Government had chosen to fill the post "without the open and transparent recruitment process" expected for an agency like the Garda Ombudsman Commission.
"We followed to the letter of the law and to the spirit of the act that this Oireachtas passed in 2005 to the appointment . . . that there would be nomination from Government, passing of resolutions in both Houses of the Oireachtas, and then appointment by the President, so in my view
Government has behaved absolutely in accordance with legislation and correctly," the Minister told the House.
Commenting on high-profile cases referred to GSOC that were raised by the Opposition, he said these should be left to the independent commission to be independently examined.
Mr Gallagher will succeed the late Judge Kevin Haugh, the former GSOC chairman, who died in January.
